Blessings Multiplied -December 18, 2015

Several stories I’ve read in the Bible talk of how things, when placed in the hands of God, can be multiplied.  The first example that comes to mind is where Jesus fed the five thousand with just five loaves of bread and two fish that were given to him by His disciples (Matthew 14:13-21).

I was reading today in the book of 2 Kings about the prophets Elijah and Elisha.  These two prophets foreshadowed the coming of the Messiah in many ways.  They were blessed with the Holy Spirit and were able to perform miracles to demonstrate the power of God.  Later, in the New Testament, God Himself would come down in the flesh and perform and preach a message of hope and salvation to the world – in fact, He would be the Message we all need to hear, and the Miracle the world was waiting for.

2 Kings 4:42-44 says, “Then a man came from Baal Shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and newly ripened grain in his knapsack.  And he said, “Give it to the people, that they may eat.”  But his servant said, “What?  Shall I set this before one hundred men?”  He said again, “Give it to the people, that they may eat;  for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’  So he set it before them; and they ate and had some left over, according to the Word of the Lord (NKJV).”

The man wondered how twenty loaves of bread were going to be enough to feed one hundred people, just as the disciples didn’t think that the five loaves and two fish would be enough to feed the five thousand either.  But they forgot that God is a God of miracles.  God told Elisha to reassure the man that He would provide enough for the people to eat, and even have some left over.  Matthew 14:20 says that after Jesus fed the 5,000, “they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.”

When I was reading about this, I got to thinking – how often do we say, “God, all I have is a measly amount of money.  Shoot, I even live paycheck to paycheck.  How can my tiny offering really help anybody?” or, “Lord, I don’t feel like I have what it takes to get involved in ministry.  I’m not good at singing, I’m not a preacher, and I’m very shy.  How could You possibly use someone like me?”

I know I’ve said to myself, “How can God use a socially-awkward, self-proclaimed introvert and ex-drunk like me?”  But I forget that He can take even our measly offering and multiply it over and over.  Maybe you just have 30 minutes a week, or $10, or a beat-up car.  Did you know He can take that and use it for His glory, no matter how small or insignificant you think it is?

I’ve also had times where I’ve said to myself (and my husband), “There seems like no way we’re going to pay all of the bills on this,” and yet at those times, often God has stepped in and made a way where there seemed to be no way.  This month seemed to be like that for us.  My husband works as an electrician, and he came up short the week before last because they were waiting on a builder to finish a house. Consequently, he was short on his check last week for the couple of days that they couldn’t work.

This week, I’ve had the opportunity to work a couple of days part-time at my old job.  I’m not a regular employee, but they’ve graciously allowed me to fill in whenever someone goes on vacation or is sick, etc.  Sometimes I go months without getting an opportunity like this, depending on how busy or slow they are.  The hours are long, but I am so thankful that God has given me the opportunity.  Times like this remind me that He is always faithful, just like His Word says, and that He cares about us and our bills and our lives, even to the smallest detail.

Jesus also encourages us to give of what we have to help others as well.  Like 7:38 says, “Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure you use, it will be measured back to you.”  God can multiply our blessings to others in both our lives and theirs.  And it’s such a joy to know when God has used you to make a difference, even in the smallest way.

We can be encouraged to know that in the hands of our Lord, the smallest offering can become the biggest blessing.  We don’t have to be afraid to offer our time, money, talents, possessions, words, deeds or prayers.  All that we have is given by God anyway, and really belongs to Him.  We can trust Him with all things because He is a loving Father.

“Lord, I thank You for all that You have provided, and continue to provide in my life.  Help me to use all that You have given me for Your glory.  Let us offer our lives, time and all that we have to You, to place them in Your hands to be multiplied, knowing that the very same God who fed the five thousand and healed the blind can make much out of little.  Help us to make much of You, Lord, for You are holy.  I pray that when blessings come, we would remember where they came from, and be reminded of how much You love us.  Let us boldly come to You with all of our needs, knowing that You are faithful to take care of us, and care about all of our concerns, no matter how small.  Thank You for being such a loving Father.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen.”

Overcoming Temptation – December 14, 2015

Do you ever have those times where it seems like it’s just one thing after another?  A sick child, the car breaks down, the roof begins to leak, a loved one is in the hospital, a deadline at work right before the holidays, or some other minor or major crisis at the least convenient time?  I have those days (and sometimes those weeks) too.

Here lately for me, it’s been a hectic time, with Christmas just around the corner, and I have a parent that has been struggling with a mental illness off and on for the past several years, but recently it’s become more debilitating, and we’ve looked into more doctors and more treatment solutions.  I sometimes just feel like my energy is zapped, and that it’s one thing after another.  Yet, I am reminded of God’s faithfulness.  He got us through a crisis late last year and early this year with our daughter’s depression, and I know He will help us navigate this too.

At those times, when we feel weak, or burned out or stressed out, is when we are most vulnerable to temptation.  The temptation to return to old habits or unhealthy coping mechanisms (in my case, for a long time it was drinking) or to try to handle things all on our own and neglect to pray and ask God for help, or to get so busy we neglect our family life– the enemy attacks us when he knows we’re at our weakest.

Today, I was reading about where Jesus was tempted in the wilderness right after He is baptized by John the Baptist and just after He heard the Father tell Him, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”  Jesus knew He had an important mission ahead – one that would bring about the redemption of you and me, and pay for the sins of mankind.  The devil wanted nothing more than to get Him to mess up and dishonor God so that He could discredit Jesus’ entire ministry and mission.

Beginning in Matthew 4, the Word says, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.  Now when the tempter came to Him, he said ‘If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.’

But He answered and said, ‘It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matthew 4:1-4 NKJV)

Boom.  Strike one.  The devil had already lost the first round.  Jesus wasn’t going to dishonor the Father by giving in to a temptation based on His physical need.

Do you ever feel like you’re in the wilderness of life?  Just kind of winging it, maybe living paycheck to paycheck, or having to improvise because things haven’t gone as planned?  It’s when we often find ourselves tempted.  Reading these verses brings a great deal of comfort in knowing that we have a Savior who was in the wilderness too, and was tempted just like we are.  And the greatest thing of all is that He overcame the temptation, and because He overcame, He gives us the strength to overcome also.

Imagine how hungry Jesus must have been!  I can’t imagine fasting for four days, let alone forty!   The dirt on the ground must have looked good enough to eat at that point.  Not only that, but He had the power to turn those stones into bread and make Himself a sandwich right then and there!  Yet, He refused to dishonor His Father, and He loved us too much to give us on His mission, which was to rescue us from the enemy’s clutches.

After the bread incident it says, “Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, ‘If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down.  For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over You.’ and ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ‘

Jesus said to him, ‘It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’

Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, ‘All these things I will give You if you will fall down and worship me.’  Then Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan!  For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’

Then the devil left Him and behold, angels came and ministered to Him (vv 5-11).”

The devil tempted Jesus to give into pride and the desire for material things, but Jesus still refused.  When we feel that urge to just say, “You know what, I’m done trying to do the right thing, I might as well _____ (you can fill in the blank here, it’s usually related to one of our weaknesses),” we can know that that’s not of God, but the enemy tempting us to give up on what God would have for us to do, or maybe to even give up on following God altogether.

I love what Hebrews 4:14-16 says: “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.  Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Jesus wasn’t just tempted in the three points described in Matthew.  It says He was tempted in all points as we are.  This is a great comfort to know that whatever I am tempted with, our Savior was tempted also, and because He overcame, I can overcome also.  It says that we can come boldly to the throne of grace.  We don’t have to be shy, or ashamed, or afraid.  No, we can come boldly and find mercy and grace to help us in our time of need.  Isn’t that wonderful?

The first verse in Hebrews 4 above tells us to hold fast our confession (our faith in Christ) because He knows what it’s like, He’s been there, and He will not fail us.  He will always be there to provide the grace that we need to overcome.  Reading this really encouraged me today, and I hope it encourages you to know that He loves you too, and will help us in our every need.  We don’t have to listen to the lies of the enemy that tell us to give up or to go back to our old ways.  Instead we can hold fast to our Savior.

“Father, I thank You for your grace that is available in every situation, and most especially in our time of need.  The truth is, though, that we need You every day, every minute, and I’m glad You’re always there.  Help us to hold fast to Your truth and not give into the temptations of the enemy to turn away from You.  Let us instead draw closer to You in these times, and ask what You would have us to do or to learn from the situation.  I thank You that You are faithful, always and forever, and that You loved us enough to overcome and win the fight for us, enough to even die and lay down Your life so that we could be set free.  Help me to live my life to honor You, Lord, and use the trials in my life for Your glory.  I give You all the praise and the thanks and the glory.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Daring to Ask for Help – December 7, 2015

It’s easy to feel weighed down by things that are outside of our control, which if you think about it, are, in the words of some really wise people I know in recovery, “everything beyond the tip of your nose.”

Of course, being the control freak that I am sometimes, this is not always easy to accept.  I want to put people that are hurting other people in their place and tell them to act right, or I want to fix my mom’s mental illness and make it all better, or I want to teach those drivers in rush hour traffic how to use their turn signals.  Or I want to do a better job of controlling my mouth and my thinking.  I realize I’m not even good at having self-control myself sometimes, and Lord knows I need a lot of fixing, so it’s pointless for me to think that I am qualified to fix anyone else.

So, I need help.  We need help.  The whole world needs help.  And this is where I’m reminded that the help is always there, whenever I ask.

Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! (Matthew 7:7-11 NKJV).”

It’s encouraging to know that God is always there when I have a problem, or when I’m tired, or lonely, or at a loss for what to do in a situation, or when I’m worried about something.  I can also tell Him my biggest dreams and ask Him to help make them a reality.  If it’s something that He knows is going to be good for me, I believe He is a loving Father who wants to give me the desires of my heart.

Psalm 37 says “Trust in the Lord, and do good.  Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.  Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart (vv 3-4).”

Now I’m not saying that this is espousing a “name it and claim it” theology, where God is like a magic genie giving us our every want.  But I believe it says that if we seek His will first, we can bring Him the desires of our hearts and every concern we have, and trust that He will bring about the best for our lives.

Sometimes He might even change the desires of my heart or help me to realign my priorities in line with what He wants for me instead of what I think is best.  When I think back to my teenage years when my first breakup seemed like the end of the world, and when not having a car or a driver’s license and having to *gasp* ride the bus to school seemed like the most depressing thing ever, I can laugh because I can see that I totally had no clue!

Because He’s a good Father, I know that His answer to my prayer is not always going to be yes.  It might be no, or it might be “wait.”  Much like a little kid, it’s hard for me when I don’t get my way.  But let me tell you, there are times I can thank Him now many times over that He didn’t give me what I thought I wanted at the time, particularly where dating and marriage were concerned!  My younger self was not so great at relationships, and my older self still has a lot to learn, so I’m thankful He brought me a husband who’s had the patience of Job with me, and that we’ve been able to grow up and learn together (even if it has at times involved weeping and gnashing of teeth!).

In the book of Jeremiah, God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah to the people of Israel who had been taken captive from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.  He tells them that He would ultimately deliver them from captivity.  It says, “For thus says the Lord:  After seventy years are completed at Babylon, I will visit you and perform My good word toward you, and cause you to return to this place.  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all Your heart (Jeremiah 29:10-13).”

Whenever I feel that things are out of my control, and even though there are things within my control (i.e. my thoughts and words) that I need to work on, it’s comforting to know that just as He was there for His people back in those days, He will be there for me, and for you.  Not only that, but that He loves us and wants to give us a future and a hope.  The biggest hope that he’s given us is Jesus Himself.  Christmas is perhaps the time of the year that we are most reminded of that Hope, but the truth is that He’s here with us every day.  And He tells us to keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking, because He wants to be there for us and because He loves us, enough to step down from His heavenly home, endure this world, the cold stable, the cross and all, and give up His earthly life so that we could have forgiveness of our sins and abundant life.

We can take those things over which we feel powerless to a loving Father and know that He is able to help.  Who can fix something best?  The One who made it.

“Father, I thank You that You are my ever-present help.  Please help me to seek You when I don’t know what to do, and to seek You first before I go off and try to fix things on my own.  Help us to give You our hopes, dreams, fears, worries, the whole nine yards, Lord, knowing that You know us even better than we know us, for You are our creator.  I thank You that because of Jesus, we can call you Abba Father.  Help us to commit our lives to You, and may we all know the Hope that we have in Jesus’ great gift of salvation, and that through Him we know how good You are and how much You love us.  Help us to remember this today and every day.  Strengthen our faith, Lord, and help us to walk without fear of what we can’t control.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Deliver Us From Evil…And Holiday Traffic – November 27, 2015

I must say,  we had quite a ride getting to my husband’s parents’ home last night.  We were already excited to spend time with our out-of-state family, but the four-and-a-half hour drive turned out to be a nail-biter in more ways than one.

First, we ended up leaving just as a torrential rainstorm began, which resembled more a typhoon than anything.   Then, as we headed south, more rain, and at one point we narrowly dodged hydroplaning when we hit a puddle that looked to be two feet deep.  Every so often, we would pass a car that had landed in the ditch, or that had had a fender bender with the retaining wall and think, “This could be us up around the next corner.”

Thankfully, I wasn’t the one driving.  The last thing any of the poor souls stuck in rainy, Thanksgiving Day traffic need is a sleep-deprived woman, bordering on delirious actually, from working the overnight shift, behind the wheel of the car on the freeway next to them. Especially one who is close to foaming at the mouth after everyone, including three kids and a husband, has finally managed to get crammed, along with all of the luggage, into a small double cab truck which has seemingly morphed into a smart car with no leg room.

I began praying for God to please get us to our destination safely through the storms and in one piece (and without killing one another), and to help me to snap out of the crabby mood I was in.  It is, after all, the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.  I just wasn’t feeling it at the moment. How I wish at those times that there were some kind of divine teleportation mechanism to lift us up and carry us out of the storms, the long lines of traffic, etc.

In Matthew 6:9-13, Jesus teaches the disciples (and us) how to pray.  He says:

“In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen. (NKJV)”

What does deliverance from temptation and the evil one look like (and yes, I think holiday traffic is the work of the evil one!)?  When I think of being delivered from something, I think of God lowering down a rope or a safety net and rescuing me right then and there.  Or like the way that He helped Moses to part the Red Sea to deliver the Israelites out of the hands of the Egyptians in Exodus.

But sometimes I fail to see that deliverance might not be what I think. Deliverance might mean protection. I think sometimes our plans go awry because God might be keeping us from harm.

And then, sometimes, I think deliverance means walking with us through whatever we are going through, and helping us to come out safely the other side.  I’ve heard a saying that sometimes the only way out is through, and I believe that.  Even if whatever it is means emerging from this side of life into Heaven on the other side, God will get us through it, and He will walk with us all the way.

The Apostle Paul had some kind of “thorn in the side”.  The Bible doesn’t tell us exactly what it was.  Perhaps a physical illness or disability, perhaps anxiety or depression, or some kind of temptation that he struggled with. No one can really be sure.  Whatever it was, it was troubling enough to Paul that He asked the Lord to remove it three times.

Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:8-9 (NKJV):  “Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me.  And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.'”

The Lord was telling him that He was choosing not to remove Paul’s thorn in the flesh, as He would be able to use Paul’s weakness to demonstrate His strength.  In other words, He was going to be able to take something that Satan was using to bother Paul (v.7) and use it as part of Paul’s ministry for His glory.

So then, we can be encouraged when the trials and storms come, and know that though God has different ways of delivering us from storms,  He promises to be with us every step of the way.

Our Thanksgiving story has a happy ending.  We arrived safely in time to have Thanksgiving dinner with most of the relatives.  A good time was had by all of us.  A few had left, but we have the rest of the weekend to be able to catch up and visit with everyone before we head back home Sunday.  The Lord reminded me of all that I have to be thankful for – most especially, His grace that is sufficient for my every need.

“Father, thank You for all that You are, and for You grace that sustains me daily.  Please forgive me for the times when I forget to be grateful, and help me to give thanks in all circumstances, for You are able, and You are mighty to deliver us from anything the evil one tries to throw our way.  I’m grateful for family, fellowship and that we get to spend this time together for the holiday weekend.  Please be with those reading this and bless their homes and their families, Lord, and give them safe travels.  May we all draw closer to You today and always.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

By His Grace – November 20, 2015

Today it seems that we are inundated with a lot of craziness going on in the world, and we ask, “Why?” and struggle to understand for sure.  I’ve also found myself reading or watching a news story and asking, “How in the world can people be so mean to each other?” and then thinking to myself, “I’d never do something like that, that’s terrible!”  Uh, oh.  Here’s where pride subtly begins to creep in.

In studying this morning, I was reading in John 14:36-38 about an exchange between Jesus and the apostle Peter:

“Simon Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, where are You going?’  Jesus answered him, ‘Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward.’

Peter said to Him, ‘Lord, why can I not follow You now?  I will lay down my life for Your sake.’  Jesus answered him, ‘Will you lay down Your life for My sake?  Most assuredly, I say to you, the rooster shall not crow till you have denied Me three times.'”

Can you identify with Peter here?  I know I can.  There have been times in my life where I’ve said, “God, here I am.  Wherever You want me to go, and whatever You want me do, I’m willing to surrender all to You.”

And then life starts to happen, and maybe I lose a loved one, or lose a job, or things don’t work out in my family relationships that way that I want them to, or I have a wayward child who walks away from the faith, or a miscarriage.  Then what?  I’m saying, “No, no, no!  Lord, wait a minute!  Now, you know I love You, but anything but this!  I want a refund – this is not what I signed up for when I said wherever and whatever.  I was thinking more along the lines of doing missionary work overseas somewhere, I think I can do that.  Or maybe helping the poor or the homeless.  Or helping clean the church toilets.  But not this!“

Reading this passage between Jesus and Peter is comforting in a way, because it lets me know that I’m not the only one who has overestimated my faith and underestimated my, well, my humanness and my tendency to be a big baby about any type of pain.  And my tendency to be proud of my efforts and to look with scorn at everything that is going on and in my pride think, “I’ll never be like one of those people!”

What I’m learning to say, and this is after a lot of things that I have done in my life that I said I’d never do, and then seeing how my actions at those times hurt the people I love, is to say, like the apostle Paul, “But by the grace of God, I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain…(1 Corinthians 15:10 NKJV).”

So how, then, do we follow Jesus, knowing that it is our human nature to want to chicken out?  (See Romans 7:19)

Romans 8:26 says, “Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses.  For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

Then Paul goes on to say that “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28 NKJV).

I believe in essence what Paul is saying here is, “Yes, you [we] are weak, in and of ourselves and we don’t even know how to pray like we should, but we have the Holy Spirit helping us at all times.”

And for us as believers, God’s word tells us that He is able to bring about some good in every situation.  Not that all things that happen are good, by any means, but that God can bring good out of a bad situation somehow, someway.

Paul is telling us, “Yes, we will chicken out, we will get fed up, we will get discouraged trying to do things on our own, but by the Grace of God, we don’t have to!  When we become believers we are never alone anymore – ever!”

This has been encouraging to me to study and write this morning.  I needed to read and ponder these truths today.  Nothing can separate me from His love!  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Phillipians 4:13 NKJV).”  I think that’s a reason to rejoice today!

“Father, I thank You for Your unending love, and Your amazing Grace.  I pray that everyone will know Your free gift of salvation and that the Truth shall set them free, Father.  I pray that we as believers may walk courageously and be free from fear, doubt, bitterness, and anything that would weigh us down and keep us from running a good race and finishing strong, Lord.  Help us through Your Holy Spirit not to be afraid to follow You, and not to turn our backs on You when trials come, but instead draw near to You and know that You are faithful to Your promises, and that You will walk with us through whatever we face, and can bring us peace and comfort during the hard times.  Help us to continue giving thanks and looking for the good, Lord, and draw us close to You, that by our lives You may be glorified.  In Jesus name I ask these things, Amen.”